One of the many things that raises my eyebrows during a typical work day is reading yet another blog post, Facebook ad or Instagram post from someone who is urging me to get onboard their webinar/program/email list so that they can 10X your list/traffic/sales.
You know the posts.
We all see them, and we all get them. But what convinces us that a particular expert has the goods or not.
It is easy to be swayed at times by a flashy sales pitch and great look.
What a lot of these so called growth hackers are incredibly good at is how they present their personal brand. Perhaps it is the confidence of youth, perhaps it is inbuilt chutzpah or perhaps it is something else that they possess.
Having been on the receiving end of a series of too many affiliate email campaigns lately (for the same products!), I thought I would delve deeper into the realm of personal branding and in how to spot a fake.
All of us in our businesses strive for credibility and authority. We want to be seen as the go to person in our space. When our network of contacts needs an answer to a problem within our niche, we want to be that person that they go to. So how do we build up this capital? How do we build it quickly within the reality of today’s fast paced and ever changing global digital marketplace?
Let’s look at 6 ways you can check the health of your personal brand.
1. Do a SWOT analysis of you.
What is your why and how does that come together? One of the biggest ways to spot a fake is where the online authority has veered to far down the cliched “be your authentic self” path. What does be your authentic self really mean? To me it means kind of like conducting a SWOT analysis of yourself and going forward from there.
We play to our strengths, we acknowledge and work on our weaknesses, we rise to the challenge of our opportunities and we arm ourselves with knowledge to handle the threats.
If we remember those items and this is reflected in our language, our presence and our writings both online and offline, then we can’t help but be our authentic selves.
2. Speak and plan for that time when you can command a big stage.
Grab opportunities to talk. Anywhere and everywhere. If public speaking is something that has you running for the hills, then you need to think seriously about this personal branding exercise you want to embark on.
Speaking in public does not necessarily mean talking to a stadium full of people. Have you ever conducted a small group session, a mastermind or seminar? Consider yourself a public speaker.
So why not look for opportunities in your local business chamber for some live speaking opportunities, these are great confidence boosting chances. Also look inside your current networks for partnership opportunities to speak.
An engaging speaker is remembered well after the event. If you need to polish up your presentation, then seek professional help. Too many online influencers are revealed as imposters when they open their mouth to speak. Don’t damage the great first visual impression you have made with a poor speaking first impression.
3. Write and write often
Have an opinion and share your opinion.
How often are you blogging? How often are you writing articles inside Pulse within LinkedIn? What about inside Medium?
You need to build up a body of online work that is good reflection of who you are, what you know, what you think and how you work. A great way to get your writing into the wider space is to sign up to Source Bottle alerts so that have your eyes and ears pricked up to industry expert opportunities. Send on your blogs to the Huffington Post and other online portals. What is the worst that can happen, they say no and who knows what might happen if they say yes.
Be mindful of where you are writing that it is a quality source of information, so that your article doesn’t end up somewhere that is not in sync with your brand.
4. Grow your online footprint
This is often the only place people focus on and this is often the place where most of the fakers, 10X’ers, growth marketers, etc., spend their time.
However for you to be a brand authority in your space, you must build a large social media footprint. Wherever your people hang out, that is the platform that you must focus your energy on and really aggressively grow.
See yourself as a guru inside the Corporate world? How large is your LinkedIn connections list – don’t talk to me unless you are a premium member with contacts in the thousands.
Are you in the professional coaching space?
Then your footprint will straddle several platforms and your Facebook page better have likers in the thousands. You need to think about groups, starting one and again working towards numbers in the thousands. Your Instagram account needs to be heading to the magic 10K mark and beyond.
These are just starting points.
Truly, just starting points, if you are going to be seen to be as an authority, you need to have really high numbers here. Not ridiculously high, but serious numbers, that bring authority and credibility to you.
You have to walk the talk and be seen to be walking the talk. If you have years of real world experience behind you, then you need to bring those smarts to the online game and start to aggressively grow your account. People want to hear from people just like you, with runs on the board, but they won’t listen if your channels are too small.
5. Continue learning
Things change, you need to keep abreast of these changes. Some industries don’t seem to change as quickly as others, but technological changes affect everyone. The way we market, the way we bank, the way we sell have all changed, so even if the nature of our businesses hasn’t changed as fast as others, the way we do business will have changed significantly.
Make sure that you are at the forefront of what is happening in your space. Join groups (Facebook and LinkedIn), read widely online and offline. I came across this quote the other day from B C Forbes “ If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business”. It’s scary but true.
And finally
6. Connect with People
People like to deal with, buy from and relate to people. So no matter how large your list, how large your insta following or how often you might speak in public, people come to know who is the real deal.
Always look for opportunities to engage with others, however you can. Remember to comment on other people’s posts, read and share other people’s articles, speak to lots of people individually at your next small speaking gig and offer your advice freely inside groups and forums wherever you can. Give away your good stuff in your emails.
Fakers/Growth Hackers/10Xers can’t really do that, as they have nothing of real value to offer. They have just gamed a system to appear larger and more important than they are. They don’t have your runs on the board and have real experiences of success and failure to share – unlike you.
This is how you truly build your brand authority and credibility. Be genuine and generous. Because this is how I will ultimately buy from you and not because you have sent me too many emails in a series from your good friend, to buy their latest thing to 10X my biz.
